Great news #BikeLA! We are one step closer to the historic launch of Los Angeles bikeshare changing the way we get around DTLA. We’re about to flash right into the future and our Downtown transportation options are about to become practical, cost effective, and neighborhood livening with the implementation of a regional bike share system!

Yesterday, the Metro Planning & Programming Committee unanimously approved for full Board consideration the adoption of the Regional Bike share Implementation Plan and the award of a 2-year operations contract to Bicycle Transit Systems (BTS). Soon the item will be in front of the full Metro Board of Directors for a vote. Next Thursday, June 25 at 9 am the Board will consider the contract with BTS and their partner Bcycle, to operate a regional bikeshare program for LA County. If the Board votes to pass the item, the project will move forward, with the countywide bikeshare program on track to launch next spring in downtown Los Angeles!

The DTLA pilot will provide 65 bikeshare stations and more than 1,000 bikes. If the Pilot proves successful, Metro’s larger regional program will expand to include 4,000 bikes around nine cities and communities including Pasadena, West Hollywood, Venice and others.

Proposed bikeshare expansion map

Bikeshare is an ideal fit for LA, with our sunny and 75 degree winters and relatively flat terrain. Bikeshare will help revolutionize how people get around our neighborhoods, since it allows users to take a bike at one station and return it to any other within the system. In other words, bikeshare is really good for connecting people to places especially for trips that are easier on a bike than by car — one-way or round-trip. Bikeshare is a great way to travel to and from transit, closing the first/last mile gaps. It also brings people to business districts and provides opportunities for effortless exercise!

The BTS/Bcycle team chosen to operate the LA County system successfully launched in Philadelphia this April with 500 bikes. The company was selected after a rigorous procurement process in which staff evaluated several bikeshare companies. Among the reasons they were selected:

•BTS and its partner, Bcycle, have delivered bikeshare systems on-time in other cities and they have a good track record with those cities and with customer satisfaction.

•The BTS/Bcycle staff have expertise implementing large bikeshare programs in other cities, including Philladelphia, New York and Washington D.C. BTS operates bikeshare systems in Philly and Oklahoma City. Bcycle, in separate partnerships, has bikeshare systems in Denver, San Antonio, Austin, Fort Worth and many others.

•Metro believes the BTS/Bcycle team has the greatest ability to deliver more than 1,000 bikes and 65 kiosks for Metro’s pilot program in Downtown L.A.

•The BTS/Bcycle team has also been working on allowing payment for bikes with transit fare cards in Philadelphia and Santiago, Chile. Metro wants its riders to be able to use TAP cards to pay for bikeshare memberships or rentals, with the vision that bikeshare is just an extension of the transit system.

This announcement has prompted questions about inter-operability of the different bikeshare systems in the County. Prior to the Metro Board deciding in 2014 to pursue a regional bikeshare program, two other cities — Long Beach and Santa Monica — had already secured funding and began planning their own bikeshare programs. The start dates of bikeshare in those cities is still to be determined but the bottom line is that the cities have different vendors, raising the question of whether their bikeshare systems will be compatible with the regional system.

Metro and the regional bikeshare program cities will continue working with Long Beach and Santa Monica to ensure “interoperability” and a good customer experience for those who want to use the different bikeshare systems. That means Metro will be discussing common fare structures (including use of TAP as a membership card) as well as inclusive bikeshare memberships, consistency in marketing and possibly co-locating bikeshare facilities for those traveling between Metro’s bikeshare kiosks and Long Beach and/or Santa Monica.

On Thursday, June 25th, the full Metro Board will consider the bikeshare contract with the BTS/Bcycle team at 9am in Union Station’s Metro Board Room. The meeting is open to the public and speaker cards will be available for those who wish to comment.